Are you looking to study an English literature or language at university? You’ll need to pay attention to more than just your spelling and grammar, according to admissions tutors.
Here’s what else budding literary students will need to showcase – or avoid – in their applications.
For more personal statement advice, see our articles on 10 things not to put in and some top ways to sell yourself in your statement.
If you’re about to start to draft your personal statement, thinking about this question is a good place to kick off your thought process. Here’s what a couple of admissions tutors we spoke to said…
A succinct and focused statement that:
Turn offs? Deep and meaningful philosophical statements, overlong sentences, baroque syntax and incorrect punctuation… Dr Luke Thurston – Director Of Recruitment For English & Creative Writing | Aberystwyth University
You should be specific about the texts, contexts and critical tendencies that really excite you. We read hundreds of statements each year, but genuine passion and detail will always catch our eye.
Be wary of writing about authors or texts that are almost certain to attract a huge amount of popular attention, whether it be Kerouac’s On the Road, the Harry Potter series or Joyce’s Ulysses – try to be original and passionate without waxing lyrical.
Dr Padraig Kirwan – American Literature Lecturer | Goldsmiths – University Of London
Do use your statement as an opportunity to discuss a specific writer you’re interested in – and preferably one who isn’t on the A-level syllabus. It’s a great way of demonstrating your interests and what inspires you about the study of literature.
Be genuine. Tutors want to hear an account in your own words of those books and features of literature that you have found most enjoyable. But while you might want to try and think outside the box by picking a more unusual novelist or poem, don’t be obscure just for the sake of it. An insightful, imaginative and critical response to literature is what will impress, not what’s on your bookshelf.
Most universities like to see some detail of this but keep it interesting and brief – probably 20% maximum – and ask yourself why it’s relevant. For example, your experience listening to or coaching readers in your local primary school will probably make more impact than playing badminton.
How much you dedicate in your statement to outside interests will also depend on the kind of English degree you are applying for, or whether you are combining it with another subject.
Dr Antonella Castelvedere at University Campus Suffolk, whose degree course focuses on English language as well as literature, is looking for students to reflect on both elements and mentions book group membership, theatre attendance, cultural projects or voluntary work in schools as examples of the kind of activities that would impress, along with anything that demonstrates inquisitiveness or critical thinking.
The English department at Royal Holloway sums up nicely what it’s looking for on its website…
You! This may seem a facile response, but many personal statements become (under the strain of the occasion) solemn mini-essays about the importance and validity of the study of literature, with testimonials to various authors and attempted epitomes of what they teach their readers. As a department of English Literature, we do not need to be persuaded of these things, but want the main part of the personal statement to be about you: your tastes in reading, your cultural activities, your aspirations, and some of your relevant personal experiences.
